Following on from Shows Beginning with the Letter A, here are more programmes that people need to know about, that have ushered in a new form of entertainment or have made the most impact in terms of popularity.
From Blackadder, which followed the antics of multiple generations of a cunning family through historic periods, to Big Brother, which marked the day television became “real”, to Brass Eye, documenting what happens when satire upsets the tabloid newspapers. Then there's Boys from the Black Stuff and Brookside, showing the crazy goings on in a single Liverpool street and telling the story of one man driven to insanity through large scale unemployment in Thatcher’s Britain, respectively.
Blackadder (BBC One: 1983-1989)
Told through several generations of the Blackadder dynasty, this sitcom took a slanted look at historical eras such as Tudor and Georgian from the viewpoint of the titular sycophant (Rowan Atkinson) who one day wishes to be king and sidekick Baldrick (Tony Robinson) with his “cunning plans”. It still raises a few giggles even today and the poignant no man’s land/poppy scene at the conclusion of Goes Forth is still one of the greatest TV moments.
This show is also the best thing either Ben Elton or Richard Curtis have ever attached their names to. The misjudged Back & Forth millennium special, where a modern day Baldrick invented a time machine, reminded everybody that some things should just be left alone.
Big Brother (Channel 4: 2000-)
Or when TV started to eat itself. Reality TV or fly-on-the-wall documentaries had existed long Big Brother reared its ugly head in 1999 on Dutch television but this soon took over the world with variations set up in many countries. The British version, perhaps the most well known, is now in its tenth series and helped popularise similar shows that dominate much of the schedules these days.
The format is thus: a group of ordinary are shoved into a specially designed house full of camera and have to live together for what seems like forever. While there they have to complete tasks and every week, or whatever the producers decide on, one housemate is voted off. Sounds dull and frankly it is. Some of those who take part go on to a career in the media or achieve limited fame but most just thankfully disappear for good.
Brass Eye (Channel 4: 1997, 2001)
Satirist and comedian Chris Morris has always tested the boundaries of taste and decency throughout his career and as such became a controversial figure in the media. His Brass Eye series on Channel 4, a sort-of continuation of The Day Today, was a fake news show which mocked things such as the depiction of drugs in the media and the constant complaints about the state of modern Britain, all with the help of willing celebrities who had no idea they were being duped.
The ‘Paedogeddon’ special in 2001, spoofing the meeja hysteria surrounding paedophilia, received thousands of complaints from viewers, MPs who didn’t even watch it and idiotic tabloids who didn’t understand it was they who were being satirised, not the subject matter. This page from The Daily Star says it all.
Boys from the Black Stuff (BBC Two: 1982)
An extension of the Play For Today episode The Black Stuff, this five-part drama serial told the story of five tarmac layers from Liverpool coming to terms with unemployment in the early 1980s. The most famous is Yosser's Story, where the already dejected Yosser Hughes (an impressive Bernard Hill) is sent to the point of insanity after losing his children and unable to find work, including the oft repeated line “gizza job”.
Written by Alan Bleasdale as a critique of the raising unemployment caused during the tail end of James Callaghan's time in office and Margaret Thatcher’s preceding Conservative government, Boys from the Black Stuff was well received at the time of its transmission and has since been placed highly on many best of lists for its heart-wrenching portrayal of the men’s lives.
Brookside (Channel 4: 1982-2003)
Most soaps like to push the envelope with hard-hitting storylines about difficult subjects and issues, Brookside on the other hand set fire to the envelope, buried it under the patio and then committed suicide. Not a conventional programme at the best of times Brookside began on Channel 4’s first night of broadcast and became notorious for its depiction of murder, drug use, strong language, incest and the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British TV.
Although once very popular, the years of constant controversy and over-the-top scenes meant viewers got bored of the antics on the Liverpool estate and the show was eventually cancelled in 2003. But it still remains as one of the most important and impacting dramas of its time.
Steven Cookson - Steven Cookson is a writer and attempted journalist based in Howden. Originally from Chester, that Hollyoaks place in North-West of ...
